The Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art in Hand!

As Yanri's heavy voice fell, the Northern Dark True Qi within him surged forth, turning the entire alley bitterly cold. His Great Heavenly Rank aura was on full display.

"Th-That's so strong!"

Chang Xuanling shivered from head to toe. Her pupils contracted, and her hair stood on end as she stammered, "Could such powerful inner strength mean he's in the Mid-Heaven Realm?!"

"No."

Chang Haoling pulled Chang Xuanling into his arms. She trembled in fright against him, unable to speak.

Chang Haoling tried to put on a brave face, but he couldn't manage it either. Fear showed plainly on his face as he said, "I've only felt this kind of pressure from our master and the Underworld Emperor. He's probably not merely in the Mid-Heaven Realm—he's a Great Heavenly Rank expert!"

Chang Haoling had barely finished speaking when Zhu Youning appeared beside them in an instant. Somehow, the long sword in his hand was already resting against Chang Xuanling's neck.

Chang Xuanling had been rude time and again. If he was going to make an example of someone, he might as well start with her.

"Stop!"

The moment he saw the glinting blade about to cut her skin, with Chang Xuanling's life hanging by a thread, Chang Haoling reached out in desperation to stop him. But a tremor of True Qi from Zhu Youning's body sent him flying far away.

Zhu Youning's sword still hovered at Chang Xuanling's neck. A thin red line of blood appeared.

Chang Xuanling glanced fearfully at Zhu Youning's mask. Though she felt the chill at her throat, she didn't dare move an inch.

"What? Have you two had enough of living?"

Chang Haoling got to his feet and wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth. At Zhu Youning's low, hoarse words, he quickly began to think.

His opponent hadn't even made a move. His protective True Qi alone had already made Chang Haoling spit blood. The mysterious man calling himself Yanri was undoubtedly a Great Heavenly Rank expert.

Though they were known as Black and White Impermanence, their reputation notwithstanding, their strength amounted to no more than Mid-Star Rank. Before a Great Heavenly Rank expert, they were no more than ants.

Even if they fought with everything they had and put their lives on the line, they couldn't beat Yanri.

If they couldn't win, all they could do was kneel and beg for mercy. What was dignity worth, as long as they could cling to their miserable lives?

To beg for a way out, Chang Haoling promptly lay flat on the ground and pleaded desperately with Zhu Youning.

"Spare us, senior! My sister and I were blind to your greatness and offended you with our words. Please, senior, be the bigger person and spare our lives!"

Chang Haoling kowtowed to Zhu Youning again and again, feigning abject misery.

He was taking a gamble.

Since this mysterious masked man hadn't killed them right away and had instead spoken to them, they might still be of some use to him.

"You're clever, and you know how to behave."

Zhu Youning glanced at Chang Haoling, then at Chang Xuanling before him. She still had the Spirit Edge Dagger hidden in her hand and looked ready to seize a chance to attack.

"Unlike her, always thinking up little tricks."

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden BANG! rang out. Before Chang Haoling could react, his younger sister Chang Xuanling took a heavy kick to the abdomen and was sent flying far away.

"Little sister!"

Chang Haoling watched helplessly as his sister was flung through the air. He clenched his fists in secret, but didn't dare show the slightest sign of defiance.

He could only keep smiling obsequiously at Zhu Youning. "The senior is right to teach her a lesson. My little sister doesn't know any better. Please be magnanimous."

Then Chang Haoling shouted at Chang Xuanling, "Little sister, you offended senior. Hurry over and apologize!"

Chang Xuanling hit the ground hard. Hearing Chang Haoling's words, she immediately understood what he meant. She quickly knelt and kowtowed over and over, like a pestle pounding garlic.

"Senior, I was blind to your greatness. Please spare my life!"

Watching the two of them perform, Zhu Youning sneered inwardly.

He knew their characters and their capacity for enduring humiliation all too well.

People like them, who could endure and were ruthless, could easily achieve great things. If he didn't kill them, they could become a force to reckon with in the future.

But Zhu Youning wasn't worried about them becoming a threat later. Besides, he couldn't kill them yet.

Every trade had its specialists.

If he wanted to steal the Nine Nether section of the Nine Nether Profound Heaven Divine Skill from Zhu Youwen, he still needed these two devious schemers.

"Want to live?"

"Yes! Yes! We want to live!" Chang Haoling and Chang Xuanling nodded again and again.

"Then hand over the item, obediently. There are things you have no right to possess."

"The item?" Chang Haoling and Chang Xuanling exchanged a glance, both confused.

Unable to guess what he meant, Chang Haoling could only ask cautiously, "May I ask what item you mean, senior?"

"The manual."

Chang Haoling froze, then immediately begged for mercy. "Senior, my sister and I don't have the Nine Nether Profound Heaven Divine Skill manual! Zhu Youwen is our master, but he never taught it to us."

At the mention of a manual, Chang Haoling's first thought was the Nine Nether Profound Heaven Divine Skill.

After all, that was the only manual connected to the two of them that might interest a Great Heavenly Rank expert.

But Zhu Youning shook his head.

"I'm not after the Nine Nether Profound Heaven Divine Skill."

At that, Chang Haoling grew even more flustered. He racked his brains, still unable to think of any martial arts manual that might interest Lord Yanri.

The Thousand Corpse Ten Thousand Poison Palm?

No. Though this skill was vicious once mastered, it couldn't possibly catch the eye of a Great Heavenly Rank expert.

If not the Thousand Corpse Ten Thousand Poison Palm, then could it be the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art?

At the thought, Chang Haoling's expression turned strange.

The Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art was actually a dual-cultivation technique that the two siblings had stumbled upon by chance. It wasn't some peerless martial art, but it was certainly unusual.

Not only could the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art greatly boost the cultivation of both practitioners, it could also heal the other's injuries and transfer qi. It could even absorb other people's cultivation and life essence.

As long as their life essence and inner strength hadn't completely dissipated, this technique could even absorb the life essence and inner strength of the dead!

...With so many unusual uses, the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art really was a wondrous technique.

Chang Haoling became more and more certain that the mysterious man wanted the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art. Left with no choice, he reluctantly pulled the manual from his robes, held it out in both hands, and respectfully offered it to Zhu Youning.

Zhu Youning didn't take it himself. He merely raised a hand slightly, and the manual flew through the air into his grasp.

That display of taking an object from afar left Chang Haoling dumbstruck, confirming his belief that this man was a Great Heavenly Rank expert.

But most Great Heavenly Rank experts in the world were known by name, and most came from the Xuanming Cult, Tongwen Hall, or Huan Yin Workshop. Where had this one come from?

Zhu Youning didn't much care what Chang Haoling was thinking.

Just then, the system's notification rang out.

[Ding! Martial art detected: Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art. Would you like to learn the martial art: Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art?]

[Ding! You have learned the martial art: Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art]

[Ding! Special notice. Your martial art, the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art, is a special martial art and cannot be cultivated automatically. The player must cultivate it manually.]